Copper, the Energy Transition and Sustainability-Processing Opportunities

A major shift in energy away from fossil fuels is taking place globally, influenced by both public demand and government policies. This is primarily due to the impact of the global CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels on the formation of the greenhouse gases. To comply with the stringent CO₂ emission restrictions set by the UN, the metals markets (and others) are rushing to meet these levels to avoid losing their share of the market. Today, what is most evident is that governments, metal companies, research institutions, and financial organizations are committing large capital resources to transition towards a more sustainable business model. It is recognized that clean copper is vital to facilitate this transition, and its availability needs to keep pace with this new trend. The industry will have to address, with new innovations, the issue of ever-decreasing ore and concentrate grades in combination with rising impurities, while transitioning towards sustainable processing. This paper explores a range of issues affecting future copper production and supply, including: the challenges of the energy transition and net zero CO₂ emission, realistic copper demand and supply to 2050 and the impact of the energy transition, current copper supply and production, as well as present and new technologies leading to net zero. Towards that end, the current important CO₂ sequestration technologies and sustainable alternative fuels leading to sustainable processes will be reviewed.